Honduran Migrant Murdered in Attack on Train in Mexico

PUEBLA, Mexico – A Honduran teenager died and another was wounded in an attack on “La Bestia,” or “The Beast,” the freight train Central American migrants headed for the United States often ride on their journey across Mexico, prosecutors in the central Mexican state of Puebla said Tuesday.

About 10 armed men boarded the train, which was traveling from Tierra Blanca, in the Gulf state of Veracruz, to Apizaco, a city in Tlaxcala state, on Monday near Tehuacan, a city in Puebla state, the Puebla Attorney General’s Office said.

“A group of six undocumented (migrants) was traveling on the train when 10 subjects, who said they were ‘coyotes’ (people traffickers), tried to rob them and opened fire,” an AG’s office spokesman said.

A 17-year-old Honduran died from several gunshot wounds and a 15-year-old boy from the same country was wounded in the head.

The wounded migrant was taken to a hospital.

Railway company Ferrosur’s employees found the migrants in an area in the Tehuacan region called the Cañada Lobo de Azumbilla.

Migrants called the freight trains that operate across Mexico “The Beast” because of the dangers they face on the trains.

An estimated 300,000 Central Americans undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico each year on their way to the United States.

The trek is a dangerous one, with criminals and corrupt Mexican officials preying on the migrants.

Gangs kidnap, rob and murder migrants, who are often targeted in extortion schemes, Mexican officials say.

Body of Colombian Child Missing Since February Found in Venezuela

BOGOTA – Colombian police reported Tuesday that the body of a 9-year-old Colombian boy, missing since last Feb. 10 from the municipality of Tibu in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander, has been found in Venezuela.

The youngster Luis Fernando Lambartines Calvo was found “dismembered and in an advanced state of decomposition” inside a bag in a grave at the Encontrados Municipal Cemetery in the Venezuelan state of Zulia, police said in a communique.

The discovery of the little boy was made public by an anonymous source seeking the reward of 10 million Colombian pesos (some $3,730) offered by the authorities to anyone who could help find him.

According to preliminary investigations, the day the child disappeared he was with a woman he called “aunt” and with whom he got into a black vehicle, police said.

From that moment the investigation began that led to the arrest of Adriana Dariana Portilla, former lover of the boy’s mother.

The first reports in Venezuelan media said the accused had demanded a ransom of 100 million Colombian pesos (some $37,278), about which the police have given no further details.

Upon hearing that someone had helped find the body, Portilla admitted what she had done and directed police to the exact location of the body, which was identified by the boy’s mother.

Colombia’s Caracol Radio has said that police are investigating “whether this is a crime of passion” or whether the woman had some other motive for killing the child

US Senators (move forward) on Iran nuclear bill next week ?

 Tuesday, 17 March 2015 14:09

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The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote as soon as next week on a bill requiring U.S. President to submit any possible nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime for Congress’ approval, Senator Bob Corker, said on Monday.

President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, saying it could disrupt the nuclear talks.

The chairman Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Senator Corker told reporters at the US Senate that he planned to move ahead with the legislation in the committee next week.

Aides to Corker and the committee’s top Democrat, Senator Robert Menendez, said the panel had not yet settled on a specific date to debate and vote on the bill. Menendez must also agree on a date for the panel to consider the legislation.

The Foreign Relations panel must approve the bill before it can be considered by the full Senate. The full-Senate vote is unlikely to take place before mid-April because next week is the last opportunity before lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess.

The measure would also have to be approved by the House of Representatives to be sent to the White House for Obama’s signature or veto. It would need the support of two-thirds of both the Senate and House to overcome a veto.

Source: Reuters

Islamic State makes up to $1 billion on drug trafficking — Russian drug control service

MOSCOW, 6 March. /TASS/. The Islamic State terrorist group makes up to $1 billion on drug traffic through its territory, head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Viktor Ivanov said on Friday.

"The area of poppy plantations is growing. This year, I think, we’ll hear news about record-high poppy harvest, therefore the high yield of opium and heroin. So this problem should be raised not only in Moscow, but also in the UN in general, because this is a threat not only to our country’s, but also European security. Over the past five years the Balkan route has been split - the heroin traffic now also goes through the Iraqi territory," he said.

"The transit of heroin from Afghanistan though the Islamic State-controlled territory is huge financial sponsorship. According to our estimates, IS makes up to $1 billion on Afghan heroin trafficked through its territory," he said.

IRAN – FIRE FESTIVAL: Khamenei pictures set on fire, 10 arrested in western city

Fire Festival – No. 3
In the city of Mahabad a clash broke out between the youth and the suppressive security forces that were preventing the holding of the Fire Festival.

Regime’s elements that were unable to confront the youth brought in reinforcement. The clashes led to the arrest of 10 of the youth.

In the city of Zanjan, the security forces are deployed at city’s intersections and conduct body search of the youth. In Mashhad, five buses of agents and 100 motorcycle riders are stationed in street 600 near Khayyam. The agents search those who pass by.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 17, 2015

Russia Puts Northern Fleet, Other Units on Alert for Combat Readiness Drills

MOSCOW – Russia put its Northern Fleet, including certain units of the Western Military District, and its airborne troops on full alert on Monday for combat readiness exercises, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Quoted by local news agencies, Shoigu explained that the decision was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to evaluate the Northern fleet’s combat capabilities and consider the possibility of increasing their numbers in the central regions of the country.

“New challenges and threats of military security demand the further heightening of the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces,” Shoigu said.

The military drills started early Monday morning and will continue until Saturday.

The minister noted that the drills include reinforcing troop mobilization to the islands of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, but also defending Russia’s borders by land and air, extending to the northern reaches of the country, and destroying the naval grouping of a simulated enemy.

Iran: 60 arrested during raid at a party in western Tehran

NCRI – Police in Tehran has arrested at least 60 men and women during a raid at a mixed gender party in west of the capital on Friday.

A group of 40 men and 20 women were arrested at a party in Tehransar, a neighborhood in western Tehran, following a raid on the party that was being held in a sports club, state-run DefaPress reported.

“In the party which was held in a sports club advanced lighting equipment were used,” Samad Assadi, the commander of Tehransar police said.

The raid was carried out after information were provided on the party by the intelligence of Basij, the paramilitary repressive force of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the report said.

The surge in arrests under these pretexts, humiliating punishments and executions, among other violations of human rights in Iran since Hassan Rouhani has become president, are aimed at spreading fear and intimidation among the public, particularly to the youth.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the U.N.'s special investigator on Iran said in Geneva that the human rights situation and repression of Iranian women and activists has worsened since Hassan Rouhani became president in 2013.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said "in my view the overall situation has worsened, as indicated by the surge in executions."

Shaheed told reporters in Geneva on Monday that 753 death sentences were carried out in Iran last year, compared with 580 in 2012.

Some 1,400 individuals have been executed in Iran since Hassan Rouhani became the clerical regime’s president in June 2013.